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I love muffin recipes that use yogurt for the dairy component. There's a delicacy to the crumb that is delightful, a thickness to the batter making it easy to work with, an aroma when baking that I find particularly compelling. That said, I do wish this recipe was worked for twelve regular muffins instead of nine to ten, but I'm hesitant to mess with perfection. And, indeed, the original post from Smitten Kitchen is quite right in calling this recipe perfect.
Blueberry Muffins
adapted from Smitten Kitchen
Makes 9 to 10 standard muffins
5 tablespoons (2 1/2 ounces) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) sugar
1 large egg
3/4 cup (6 ounces) plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups (6 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) blueberries, fresh or frozen (if frozen, don’t defrost)
1. Preheat oven to 375°F
2. Line or grease and flour ten wells in a standard muffin tin
3. Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy
4. Add egg to creamed butter and mix well
5. Add yogurt and zest to mixture and stir to incorporate
6. In separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt
7. Add the dries to the wets in two steps
8. Fold in the blueberries
9. Divide evenly into prepared wells of the muffin tin
10. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the middle of one of the muffins comes out clean
11. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before removing
08 March 2013
20 January 2013
Haggis
We celebrated Burns' Night a bit early this year so that we could indoctrinate another person to the amusingness that is the holiday that honors Robert Burns. This year, though, we did not do our stand-by of Oat and Neep Stew.
Instead, we used some of the lamb offal we acquired through Garden Variety Cheese to make haggis. Well, haggish. That is to say, we did not have lungs or stomach, only liver and heart in sausage casing. Nonetheless, I'm told that it made a very decent approximation of haggis, and I can say myself that it was delicious. The lamb's liver was so light and tender, and of course the heart was delicious. We used caul fat instead of lard or suet, which I understand is an odd choice but it was a good one as it ended up with just the right fat content we thought.
Anyway, on to the recipe.
Haggis(h)
serves 4
adapted from Rampant Scotland
1 lamb heart
1/2 of a lamb liver
1 cup fat (lard, suet or caul fat)
1 small onion
1/3 cup steel cut oats
1/3 cup stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1 tablespoon each fresh minced rosemary and thyme
some sausage casing
Directions:
1. Put the heart and liver in a pot and cover with water. Boil until quite tender, at least half an hour.
2. Remove the heart and liver to a bowl, keeping the stock you've just made.
3. After the meat is cool enough to touch, mince (but do not puree!) the meat, onion, herbs and whichever fat you've chosen quite finely.
4. Add all the minced ingredients into a bowl with the oats, stock, salt and pepper; mix well.
5. Stuff the filling into the casing, leaving a fair bit of room for expansion and working out as much air as you can (otherwise the casing will blow apart in the midst of boiling...mine did...). A tip that I thought worked quite well for stuffing the casing without a machine to do it for you is to use a miso soup spoon to assist your endeavors.
6. Tie off the end of the casing.
7. Boil for at least an 1-1/2 hours, and up to 3 hours.
8. Serve with mashed potatoes, turnips and parsnips.
Instead, we used some of the lamb offal we acquired through Garden Variety Cheese to make haggis. Well, haggish. That is to say, we did not have lungs or stomach, only liver and heart in sausage casing. Nonetheless, I'm told that it made a very decent approximation of haggis, and I can say myself that it was delicious. The lamb's liver was so light and tender, and of course the heart was delicious. We used caul fat instead of lard or suet, which I understand is an odd choice but it was a good one as it ended up with just the right fat content we thought.
Anyway, on to the recipe.
Haggis(h)
serves 4
adapted from Rampant Scotland
1 lamb heart
1/2 of a lamb liver
1 cup fat (lard, suet or caul fat)
1 small onion
1/3 cup steel cut oats
1/3 cup stock
1/2 teaspoon salt
a few grinds of black pepper
1 tablespoon each fresh minced rosemary and thyme
some sausage casing
Directions:
1. Put the heart and liver in a pot and cover with water. Boil until quite tender, at least half an hour.
2. Remove the heart and liver to a bowl, keeping the stock you've just made.
3. After the meat is cool enough to touch, mince (but do not puree!) the meat, onion, herbs and whichever fat you've chosen quite finely.
4. Add all the minced ingredients into a bowl with the oats, stock, salt and pepper; mix well.
5. Stuff the filling into the casing, leaving a fair bit of room for expansion and working out as much air as you can (otherwise the casing will blow apart in the midst of boiling...mine did...). A tip that I thought worked quite well for stuffing the casing without a machine to do it for you is to use a miso soup spoon to assist your endeavors.
6. Tie off the end of the casing.
7. Boil for at least an 1-1/2 hours, and up to 3 hours.
8. Serve with mashed potatoes, turnips and parsnips.
13 January 2013
Cocoa Wheat
Ever since I was a child I've like all the "Cream of" hot cereals--particularly rice and wheat. My mother bought the instant varieties that you could do up in the microwave, and I had huge bowls of it every morning. I didn't know though that I was being deprived of something even more amazing: CoCo Wheats. Well, I say more amazing, but really the store bought cereal CoCo Wheats don't hold a candle to the burning inferno that is the amazingness of homemade cocoa wheat. Seriously, it's fantastic. It might be that I have really delicious cocoa powder (definitely part of it), it might be that I don't care for the additives in the branded cereal, it might be a lot of things, but it certainly is heavenly.
Cocoa Wheat
serves 2
2 cups milk
2-1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1-1/2 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup farina
(pinch of salt)
1. Whisk the cocoa powder into the milk
2. Heat the milk over medium flame until simmering (I like to stir fairly often so the milk doesn't scorch or bubble over)
3. Add the honey (and salt if using)
4. Add the farina slowly (so as not to clump)
5. Cook the farina (still stirring) until thickened to preference (just a few minutes)
Cocoa Wheat
serves 2
2 cups milk
2-1/2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1-1/2 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup farina
(pinch of salt)
1. Whisk the cocoa powder into the milk
2. Heat the milk over medium flame until simmering (I like to stir fairly often so the milk doesn't scorch or bubble over)
3. Add the honey (and salt if using)
4. Add the farina slowly (so as not to clump)
5. Cook the farina (still stirring) until thickened to preference (just a few minutes)
27 September 2012
Eggplant Caponata
It's been eggplant season at our CSA farm and I was very much in a rut for recipes. There are only so many times one can do eggplant parmesan and baba ganoush. Fortunately, I stumbled upon a lovely recipe called eggplant caponata. Now, it's not vastly different from other eggplant recipes, but the olives and vinegar offer a nice touch in what can either be used as a dip or a sandwich topping.
Eggplant Caponata
makes about 5 cups
adapted from The Kitchn
1/3 cup olive oil
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into small cubes, about 4 cups total
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 ounces white mushrooms, chopped (optional, I just used more eggplant)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup black olives, pitted and sliced
1 or 2 medium tomatoes, according to personal preference
3 tablespoons red wine or imitation balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc. as desired
1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot (use a dutch oven if you can) over medium-high heat
2. Add the eggplant, pepper, onion, mushrooms and garlic, stir to coat with oil, and cook until everything is soft (about 10 minutes)
3. Bring down to a low heat, add the olives, tomatoes, vinegar, sugar and whichever spices you desire (about 1/2 teaspoon if dried, 1/2 tablespoon if fresh), cover and simmer for half an hour, stirring every 5-10 minutes
4. Serve warm as a dip or on an open-faced sandwich and cover with some mozzarella
Eggplant Caponata
makes about 5 cups
adapted from The Kitchn
1/3 cup olive oil
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into small cubes, about 4 cups total
1/2 green bell pepper, diced
1 small onion, diced
4 ounces white mushrooms, chopped (optional, I just used more eggplant)
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup black olives, pitted and sliced
1 or 2 medium tomatoes, according to personal preference
3 tablespoons red wine or imitation balsamic vinegar
1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
Oregano, rosemary, thyme, etc. as desired
1. Heat the oil in a heavy bottomed pot (use a dutch oven if you can) over medium-high heat
2. Add the eggplant, pepper, onion, mushrooms and garlic, stir to coat with oil, and cook until everything is soft (about 10 minutes)
3. Bring down to a low heat, add the olives, tomatoes, vinegar, sugar and whichever spices you desire (about 1/2 teaspoon if dried, 1/2 tablespoon if fresh), cover and simmer for half an hour, stirring every 5-10 minutes
4. Serve warm as a dip or on an open-faced sandwich and cover with some mozzarella
Baklava
For Labor Day weekend, Chris, Neil and I went for a lovely hike in Ansel Adams Wilderness. As that's in the Sierra Nevadas and we live around SF Bay, we had to go across the Central Valley. And my, even growing up in farmland in the Midwest doesn't prepare you for the farms of Central Valley. Fields and orchards and orchards and fields! So vastly many different crops that you'd never expect to be able to grow right next to each other!
Among other things, we picked up a bag full of roasted pistachios. Seeing as it's been so long since I've had baklava, I knew just what to do with my largess of pistachios, too. After sifting through a few recipes, I found the perfect one for me. I got the oranges fresh from my orange tree, shelled all those pistachios (a bit of an undertaking, best done a cup at a time or with more than one person), and set to. It was heavenly!
Pistachio Baklava with Orange-Cardamom Syrup
adapted from Molly Wizenburg via Bon Appétit
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups fresh orange juice
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
12 ounces shelled pistachios, toasted (scant 3 cups)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
30-40 13x9-inch sheets phyllo dough (2/3 pound, give or take)
1. If your pistachios aren't already roasted and shelled, it will likely take you about 3 hours to do both
2. Chop your toasted and shelled pistachios until you like the texture (for me, it's rather fine, but some people like a larger nut to bite into in their baklava)
3. Mix the nuts with 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F
5. Melt the butter a half stick at a time during this next step, otherwise the last of it will end up quite milky (alternatively, use ghee)
6. Lay out the phyllo dough according to the instructions on the box (usually this entails laying it out flat and covering it with a damp cloth inbetween pulling off sheets) and trim if necessary (I don't as I like a little extra phyllo up the sides of my pan)
7. Butter the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking pan and layer the phyllo dough in, buttering each (or every other) sheet until you have 8 to 14 layers
8. Spread out one half of the nut mixture, then repeat layering in phyllo (be very gentle with the first layer above the nuts as it's easy to poke through)
9. Repeat step 8
10. As you can't cut phyllo after it's baked without crushing it, you'll cut the triangles now, leaving a thin layer on bottom uncut
11. Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown
12. During the latter half hour while the baklava bakes, you'll make the syrup. Bring the juice, 1 1/4 cups sugar and cardamom to a boil and reduce to 1 1/2 cups total liquid (if you add much more than that to the baklava, it will be soggy)
13. Once you pull the baklava from the oven, you'll pour the syrup over it (it will bubble a lot!), then let the baklava cool
Store baklava at room temperature at least overnight so that it can finish soaking up all the syrup. Then put it in an air-tight container and store either at room temperature (can last at least a week I'm told, though mine has never made it that long) or in the fridge.
Among other things, we picked up a bag full of roasted pistachios. Seeing as it's been so long since I've had baklava, I knew just what to do with my largess of pistachios, too. After sifting through a few recipes, I found the perfect one for me. I got the oranges fresh from my orange tree, shelled all those pistachios (a bit of an undertaking, best done a cup at a time or with more than one person), and set to. It was heavenly!
Pistachio Baklava with Orange-Cardamom Syrup
adapted from Molly Wizenburg via Bon Appétit
Ingredients
1 1/4 cups plus 1/4 cup sugar, divided
1 1/4 cups fresh orange juice
1 to 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cardamom
12 ounces shelled pistachios, toasted (scant 3 cups)
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
30-40 13x9-inch sheets phyllo dough (2/3 pound, give or take)
1. If your pistachios aren't already roasted and shelled, it will likely take you about 3 hours to do both
2. Chop your toasted and shelled pistachios until you like the texture (for me, it's rather fine, but some people like a larger nut to bite into in their baklava)
3. Mix the nuts with 1/4 cup sugar and the cinnamon
4. Preheat the oven to 350°F
5. Melt the butter a half stick at a time during this next step, otherwise the last of it will end up quite milky (alternatively, use ghee)
6. Lay out the phyllo dough according to the instructions on the box (usually this entails laying it out flat and covering it with a damp cloth inbetween pulling off sheets) and trim if necessary (I don't as I like a little extra phyllo up the sides of my pan)
7. Butter the bottom of a 13x9-inch baking pan and layer the phyllo dough in, buttering each (or every other) sheet until you have 8 to 14 layers
8. Spread out one half of the nut mixture, then repeat layering in phyllo (be very gentle with the first layer above the nuts as it's easy to poke through)
9. Repeat step 8
10. As you can't cut phyllo after it's baked without crushing it, you'll cut the triangles now, leaving a thin layer on bottom uncut
11. Bake for 1 hour or until golden brown
12. During the latter half hour while the baklava bakes, you'll make the syrup. Bring the juice, 1 1/4 cups sugar and cardamom to a boil and reduce to 1 1/2 cups total liquid (if you add much more than that to the baklava, it will be soggy)
13. Once you pull the baklava from the oven, you'll pour the syrup over it (it will bubble a lot!), then let the baklava cool
Store baklava at room temperature at least overnight so that it can finish soaking up all the syrup. Then put it in an air-tight container and store either at room temperature (can last at least a week I'm told, though mine has never made it that long) or in the fridge.
12 June 2012
Massaman Curry, or something like it...
A little while ago, we went out to eat at a Tibetan place and they had a dish called Massaman Curry. Now, I know that the following recipe is definitely different from what they had, and it's not been perfected yet, but it's a start--a delicious one.
The ways that it definitely differs from the one we had in the restaurant are that ours wasn't as creamy (which is why I proposed coconut milk instead of the cashew milk), it had distinctly fewer Maillard reaction byproducts (I needed to brown the lamb rather more than I did, and I think toasting the nuts will also help), and I know the spice ratio was different (but that's mostly personal preference anyway). The first two are easy fixes, though the last is definitely going to be a work in progress. The extra cinnamon and cardamom were certainly in the right direction, but there was something else going on to help the complexity that I couldn't quite figure out.
Nonetheless, the recipe is lovely as it is, and I'll update this as I work on making it more exact, particularly the spices.
Massaman Curry
serves 4-6
1 cup cashews, roasted and then soaked at least 2 hours or overnight
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
2 inches ginger finger
2-3 potatoes, diced
4-5 dried chiles
garam masala, with extra cinnamon and cardamom, to taste
1 pound chopped lamb
~1 cup chicken broth
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
1a. Roast the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet in the oven at 350°F until golden brown. I do not know how long this might take, but if it takes more than 15 minutes, stir them every so often.
1b. Soak the cashews in enough water to cover by at least 1/2 inch for at least 2 hours and up to overnight
2. Puree the nuts, then drain AND reserve the resulting "milk" (the water that the nuts soaked in)
3. Chop the onions, garlic, ginger
4. Brown the meat, then reserve
5. Sauté the onions, garlic, ginger (in either the lamb fat or in oil) until translucent and tender
6. Add the spices and fry until aromatic
7. Add the chicken broth and chiles, then let simmer until the broth is about gone
8. Add the cashew milk (or a can of coconut milk), then puree until smooth
9. Add the potatoes, nut meat, and put the lamb back in, simmer until potatoes are tender and nuts are soft
10. Serve with rice and naan
The ways that it definitely differs from the one we had in the restaurant are that ours wasn't as creamy (which is why I proposed coconut milk instead of the cashew milk), it had distinctly fewer Maillard reaction byproducts (I needed to brown the lamb rather more than I did, and I think toasting the nuts will also help), and I know the spice ratio was different (but that's mostly personal preference anyway). The first two are easy fixes, though the last is definitely going to be a work in progress. The extra cinnamon and cardamom were certainly in the right direction, but there was something else going on to help the complexity that I couldn't quite figure out.
Nonetheless, the recipe is lovely as it is, and I'll update this as I work on making it more exact, particularly the spices.
Massaman Curry
serves 4-6
1 cup cashews, roasted and then soaked at least 2 hours or overnight
1 large onion
4 cloves garlic
2 inches ginger finger
2-3 potatoes, diced
4-5 dried chiles
garam masala, with extra cinnamon and cardamom, to taste
1 pound chopped lamb
~1 cup chicken broth
juice of 1 lime
salt to taste
1a. Roast the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet in the oven at 350°F until golden brown. I do not know how long this might take, but if it takes more than 15 minutes, stir them every so often.
1b. Soak the cashews in enough water to cover by at least 1/2 inch for at least 2 hours and up to overnight
2. Puree the nuts, then drain AND reserve the resulting "milk" (the water that the nuts soaked in)
3. Chop the onions, garlic, ginger
4. Brown the meat, then reserve
5. Sauté the onions, garlic, ginger (in either the lamb fat or in oil) until translucent and tender
6. Add the spices and fry until aromatic
7. Add the chicken broth and chiles, then let simmer until the broth is about gone
8. Add the cashew milk (or a can of coconut milk), then puree until smooth
9. Add the potatoes, nut meat, and put the lamb back in, simmer until potatoes are tender and nuts are soft
10. Serve with rice and naan
25 February 2012
Apple Cake
A couple of weeks ago, Chris and I bought a bushel of winter apples, which I must say is a fair few apples. However, being not in the mood for apple pie or crisp (sacrilegious, isn't it?) and having accidently made up too much of the dries for a carrot cake a week or so before I thought, why not?
And so I made an apple cake. The wet ingredients are a bit made up (though I did reference a couple of actual apple cake recipes: 1 & 2, neither of which upon baking them I like quite so much as the cobbled together recipe I first made) so the apple sauce and egg amounts are adjustable to your preferred batter consistency (read: I don't remember how much I added as I didn't measure and it was awhile ago).
Apple Cake
makes 1 single-layer cake
Apple Mix:
4 medium apples
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Dry ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup sugar
Wet ingredients:
1/4 to 1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup brandy or rum
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter
2 to 3 medium eggs
1. Preheat oven to 350°F, grease a 9" cake pan and dust the cake pan with flour
2. Peel and core apples, then cut them into chunks
3. Toss the apples with 1/4 cup sugar and 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon and let sit for 15 minutes
4. Mix all the dry ingredients together
5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all wet ingredients except eggs (starting with 1/4 cup apple sauce)
6. Stir that together, adding first two eggs one at a time, and the extra apple sauce and egg as necessary to make a pourable but somewhat thick batter
7. Pour half the batter into the cake pan and smooth to cover the entire bottom
8. Distribute half the apple chunks over the batter, then do a second layer of batter and apples, pouring the juice from the apples over the top layer
9. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean from the middle of the cake
And so I made an apple cake. The wet ingredients are a bit made up (though I did reference a couple of actual apple cake recipes: 1 & 2, neither of which upon baking them I like quite so much as the cobbled together recipe I first made) so the apple sauce and egg amounts are adjustable to your preferred batter consistency (read: I don't remember how much I added as I didn't measure and it was awhile ago).
Apple Cake
makes 1 single-layer cake
Apple Mix:
4 medium apples
1/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Dry ingredients:
1 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup sugar
Wet ingredients:
1/4 to 1/2 cup apple sauce
1/4 cup brandy or rum
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup melted butter
2 to 3 medium eggs
1. Preheat oven to 350°F, grease a 9" cake pan and dust the cake pan with flour
2. Peel and core apples, then cut them into chunks
3. Toss the apples with 1/4 cup sugar and 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon and let sit for 15 minutes
4. Mix all the dry ingredients together
5. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add all wet ingredients except eggs (starting with 1/4 cup apple sauce)
6. Stir that together, adding first two eggs one at a time, and the extra apple sauce and egg as necessary to make a pourable but somewhat thick batter
7. Pour half the batter into the cake pan and smooth to cover the entire bottom
8. Distribute half the apple chunks over the batter, then do a second layer of batter and apples, pouring the juice from the apples over the top layer
9. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until a tester comes out clean from the middle of the cake
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